


atlas

by sparkywritesficss



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, fun fact i also wrote this at 1 am, i guess?, i have a lot of emotions about legos, mention of past family abuse also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 08:39:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9115339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkywritesficss/pseuds/sparkywritesficss
Summary: benny tells bad cop the story of his last name. of course, it's riddled with angst.





	

It’s as if the whole city – nay, the whole galaxy – is holding its’ breath in anticipation, leaning forward like the policeman in front of him. 

The thought is momentarily humoring in the midst of Benny’s anxiety. 

“Johnson was my original,” He finally manages to get out, “Atlas is a name I took on.” 

The sound of a car rushing by their tiny Bricksburg apartment interrupts the silence. _The universe moves on to a new subject, it seems,_ the spaceman thinks to himself. The two lie together on their bed, limbs intertwining in a tempest of blankets, pillows, and pajamas. It was an ordinary enough night; the two had finished watching some flick called "Macho and the Nerd" they'd found on Netflix. As they lay in bed, finishing the last of their wine, Bad Cop had asked Ben about his unconventional last name. Just curious, he had said. A simple question.

Benny could've sworn he heard a leaf swirling down the sidewalk in the distance.

Bad shifts, his expression unchanging. He sifts his hand through Benny’s curls, occasionally brushing over the constellations of freckles on his forehead. His straight face doesn’t help Ben’s already mediocre expression-reading skills. Millions of different interpretations burst into his head as he directs his eyes to the comforter below.

“Well, why’d ye do it?” B adds, noticing the other’s look. “If you don’t mind me askin’.”

Ben exhales, looking up at his partner’s cobalt eyes. _Like the sky,_ it occurs to him. _Peaceful, vast. Beautiful._

_How easy it is to be lost, and yet, how familiar it feels._

“First off, Johnson’s the most boring fucking last name I’ve ever heard.” he snorts, snapping himself out of his reverie with a quip. Bad cracks a smile. The weight of the spaceman’s anxiousness lifts a bit with it. “Atlas has more meaning, personally and metaphorically.” He pauses, shifts.

“Atlas was the Titan god of astronomy and navigation,” the spaceman continues, “and when the Titans were defeated by the Olympians, Zeus condemned him to stand on the western side of Earth and carry the sky on his shoulders.” Bad nods, and Ben starts to feel comfortable, even confident with the attention on him. People who listen to his spiels on space are few and hard to find. But Bad is utterly enraptured by his words. He’d never taken the short-tempered, rule-following cop for such a listener. 

A sudden wave of gratitude for his lover overcame Ben.

“A-and sometimes, I feel like Atlas,” the spaceman falters on his emotions, “Like there’s a sky in my head, a big cosmos full of stuff and I just can’t make sense of it. And it comes all at o-once and I don’t know w-what to do with it all.” He breathes, desperately clinging to composure like a life raft. He feels Bad’s rough, yet gentle hand brushing his cheek. He leans into it, his head resting against the other’s palm. It’s warm reassurance. 

Composure.

“Secondly,” he breathes, “my… ‘family’… is nothing to me.” 

It hangs in the air. Silence, again. Bad shifts, eyes locked with Ben’s. 

He swears, again, that he can hear some fucking leaf dancing down the sidewalk below.

“I left home as soon as I could. They didn’t care. Told me not to let the door hit me on the way out. Space Corps took me in two months later when they found me living in my car at uni.” 

It’s almost mechanical, now. The way he recalls.

“The only person who cared was my older sister. Only person who I bothered to stay in contact with. She sent me half her earnings when I was homeless,” he says, “and we celebrated Chanukah at Bette’s Diner. We had to get a menorah from a thrift store.” 

Laughter burbles involuntarily, mangled by the lump in Ben’s throat. 

“Benny, I never…” The policeman trails off, tears threatening to spill across his cheeks. Ben curls into the former’s chest, stifled sobs finally let go. The two embrace. They breathe. 

_How easy it is to be lost, and yet, how familiar it feels._

“I’m so, so sorry.” 

The spaceman kisses the other softly, carefully. It’s a slow, aching kiss and the apartment feels like that vast, cosmic ocean; tides of the Milky Way ebbing and flowing around them. Bad repeats the phrase, murmuring it into Ben’s ear. "I'm so sorry, love."

Ben breathes, a hiccuping sob escaping. The two gaze at each other again, hands laced and heads inches apart. They lie for a minute, taking it in.

Watching those tides.

“But the best part about Atlas,” he says, smile quirking on his face, “is that he keeps fuckin’ carrying the sky. He’s strong, a-and brilliant, and he doesn’t quit because of whatever. Y'know?”

A bittersweet grin spreads across the policeman’s face. “Like somebody I know.” he whispers, kissing the spaceman’s forehead. 

“Yeah,” Ben giggles, “And now you know why I’m Benny Atlas.”

“I wouldn’t want ye any other way.” 

They embrace. Moonlight seems to spill across their forms, enrobing them in the night.

Silence, sweet and somber silence, reigns in Bricksburg.


End file.
